The present invention relates to processed meat products having low fat and low cholesterol content while still retaining highly desirable appearance, taste and cooking performance characteristics, and to a method of making said products. More particularly, the present invention relates to low fat emulsion-type sausage products and to a novel method for making said products.
The prior art has adopted a number of approaches in attempts to reduce the fat and cholesterol content of prepared meat products. One such approach is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,104 wherein the desired results are obtained by simply extending conventional products through the addition of crystallite aggregates of cellulose; the cellulose being inert, the resulting product has less of each ingredient of the natural product. U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,515, in another approach, prepares low-fat meat products by combining high levels of skimmed milk or whole milk with comminuted lean meat. A low cholesterol sausage analog of the ground meat type using egg white as the heat denaturable binder system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,134.
In another aspect of the prior art, meat analogs, such as bacon and sausage analogs, have been prepared by preparing separate phases, one for the fat phase and a second lean meat phase and by then combining these phases to provide a completed product. The intent here is to prepare analogs of the respective lean and fat portions of the natural meat product and to then combine them. In the case of bacon, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,164, two separate phases are prepared, joined together by layering, and the layered mass is subsequently heat set to form the final product. According to the patent, the fat phase analog is an aqueous matrix of a heat coagulable protein from the group consisting of egg albumen and blood albumen, together with a water soluble film forming component such as gelatin. The matrix has a fat component dispersed therein as fine droplets. The fat phase analog in the example contains about 24% water and about 47% oil, the balance being egg albumen, flavor, color and 2% gelatin. The fat is dispersed in a continuous matrix containing the gelatin and heat coagulable protein, and the stability of the fat dispersion depends upon the coagulating action of the heat employed during processing.
Other attempts have been made to prepare low fat products utilizing technology which forces meat protein to bind increased quantities of water or which entail the use of cereal protein and/or carbohydrate extenders to act as agents which bind larger quantities of water in the product. The resulting products generally have an unacceptable texture and taste, being either overly wet or mealy in nature.
The art of making processed meat products and particularly those known as emulsion-type sausage products is highly developed. The raw materials used in making sausages of this type vary with the nature of the product being made and with the availability of different cuts of meat. In all of the emulsion-type processed meat products, salt is added to the meat and the meat comminuted in the presence of sufficient of water to solubilize a meat protein called myosin. The source of the myosin is the non-collagen meat fibers. The myosin forms a coating around each individual fat globule in the emulsion which, upon heating, sets to form a matrix which retains the structure of the product.
In the United States, government regulations place certain constraints on the fat content of processed meat products and upon their moisture content and shrinkage characteristics. For example, emulsion-type sausages such as frankfurters are allowed to have no more than 30% by weight of fat. In addition, the finished product must have a moisture content which does not exceed four times the percentage of protein plus 10% of the finished weight.
The presence of fat in emulsion-type processed meats, such as frankfurters, contributes to its eating qualities and it is desirable to have at 25% to 30% fat in frankfurters in order to provide a product which is flavorful, succulent and has the tender texture found acceptable to most consumers. Products in some part of the United States are formulated to have lower levels of fat, but such products are found to be tough, not succulent, and undesirable for nationwide distribution. A substantial level of fat apparently modifies the nature of the matrix formed during the heat setting or coagulation of emulsion. Thus, although it is desirable for dietary reasons to reduce the fat content of frankfurters to substantially below the 30% maximum permitted, such reduction in fat level cannot be achieved using present day technology without a concomitant substantial sacrifice in the texture and flavor quality of the product.